Saw one of my critters 2 days ago

[ConcernedCanuk]

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Actually, I saw him/her twice today

gots a dwelling under my back porch

Picture is from 2 days ago



It be a groundhog munching on the clover in my lawn

Me be just a luvvin' my new home!

CC

[elleng]

1. Always great to see/hear you luvvin' your new home!

[ConcernedCanuk]

2. First home I ever owned - DUs gonna be seeing more

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Was a renter all my life, never expected this good fortune -

I'm enjoying it, and I'm gonna share!

Thanks elleng



CC

[Demoiselle]

3. We had groundhogs under our front porch for years!

I'm not sure whether they've moved on or not. My big dog (a Pyrenees who would never actually hunt or kill anything) sits watch next to the porch for hours at a time. I haven't heard any signs, though. (Mama could whistle like a fiend when she wanted to warn her pups.)

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Only seen the one so far

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But it has two entrances under my porch - seen it scoot in there a couple of times.

I think it will probably relocate after I get a dog - late June early July - I'm gonna have me a dawg of my own for the first time in my life!

Grew up with my oldest brother's dog from birth until I was 14 years old.

Gonna get me one soon!

CC

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. I have a couple of groundhogs that hang out down by the creek over by the horse pasture.

cute critters!

[Demoiselle]

6. They are cute. I don't think they do any harm. (Except for the ear-piercing whistles.) nt

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. I never hear them whistle. weird. I am not here all day. heh.

Now I want to hear them whistle

[Demoiselle]

15. I hope you do...It's amazingly loud and very "tonal." Cheers.

[ConcernedCanuk]

7. Damm, disturbed one of my critters dinners.

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I often go outside for a smoke, and wander about for a bit - enjoying momma nature.

As I was returning, I saw gopher standing up about 1 foot from my front window.

Sun had been out, but passed, and bugs came in - so I had to return to the house.

Gopher ducked into a hole just underneath my front window - (house has no basement, just a crawl space underneath)

Gopher already has 2 entrances underneath my back porch

little critter has more entrances to his home than I do mine!

wonder if he does carpentry . . .

CC

[MH1]

8. My neighbor and I have a groundhog.

Mostly he's over in neighbor's yard but he's known to come over to mine. He hangs out in the backyard munching something, probably clover like you said.

One year I saw 3: apparently Dad, Mom, and Junior, all at the same time hanging out in neighbor's back yard.

The deer like us too. As do the occasional fox.

[handmade34]

9. woodchuck... is what we call 'em

I always enjoy seeing them... usually only a problem if you have large animals and they step in one of the holes (entrances)

so happy you're enjoying the place... I have been out all day everyday, of late, working on my property and I can't think of anything I would rather be doing... I mostly see chipmunks, the occasional duck, spiders and slugs on all the wet wood I've been moving ugh

[ConcernedCanuk]

10. "If a woodchuck could chuck wood"

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I have wood heat as a primary, but also propane and electric for backup.

A "woodchucker" could be handy . . .

The holes (at least the ones I've discovered) are just right beside my home.

Only "large animal" that could step into them would be me methinks.

So far, (only been here a month) seen a bear wander by within ten feet of the place (opened my door saying "Hello Bear" in a calm voice - he just looked at me and sauntered on his way).

Spotted a raccoon trying to raid my bird feeders - but when I opened my door, scrambled away to the nearby bush. - Never got a chance to say hello . . .

Porcupine - now that was another experience - noticed after I moved in one side of the house was all scratched up. Had no idea what caused that at first. Scratching noises at 2-3am woke me up more than once -

First time - went out with a flashlight to see what was going on - saw Porky chewing on my wall - he left.

1/2 hour later - chewing again. Went out with my BB gun and shot at the boards above and around him. Porky left.

Few days later - same thing middle of the night.

Shot around him with the BB gun again - he left.

Few days later - Porky started chewing again in the wee hours of the morning -

Shot around him, but as he left, I put a BB in his ass

Never came back.

I use BB's rather than pellets because pellets are lead (toxic) BBs are steel - not toxic.

didn't want kill the critter, just give the critter the idea it might be wise to stay away from me.

That was weeks ago - I think Porky got the message.

CC

[handmade34]

11. we probably

could spend hours sharing stories of life in the country... yours are great!

I am never happier than when I am out working in the woods... have some sort of little critter (must be some sort of toad or bug) that lives in this woodpile (just lost about 30 trees in a storm last week and cleaning up) every time I go by he makes all sorts of noise and I just want one glimpse at him

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a couple of weeks ago, a bear dismantled my birdfeeders and ate ALL the sunflower seeds...

[ConcernedCanuk]

13. don't need hours, just a few minutes here and there

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Bird feeders . . .

I've been living in bear country since 2007

camping in bear country since forever - no bears ever bother me, although I've seen some quite close.

Male urine - bears stay away from it.

So - I save my urine and put it around the feeders (camping, I pour it around the perimeters of my site) - just a short while back, a black bear wandered within 5 feet of my feeders, scooted right by them.

Female urine will not deter them - but if you have a guy, you're all set - just tell him where to "go" - or male guests, same thing.

I doubt you could convince a male neighbor to "donate" his urine for the cause without having him think you bat-shit crazy - well, blame it on me!

I can handle it.

CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

14. Saw a new visitor today - a Flicker!

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naw - that's not my pic, snagged it off the net - I need a better camera with a zoom and all.

right out my front window by the bird feeders he was.

pecked away on the ground for 5 minutes

then he just flew happily away.

I jus be a luvn' it here!

CC

[marzipanni]

19. I love to see Flickers

They are big, and have gorgeous plumage (yeah, that's the word...all I could think of is foliage!) We have more Nuttall's woodpeckers around here- small black & white speckly stripes and a red cap.

Our neighbor was leaving in his truck and told my husband a squirrel just went up his maple tree, so I took some photos. I'd post one, but the cable to connect the camera to the computer is temporarily missing. This was only the the second time I've seen a gray squirrel in our neighborhood, though out in the fields there are many ground squirrels, along with jack rabbits.

Other than lots of other birds, we have occasional opossums, rare raccoons, skunks, a gopher snake, Western fence lizards.
I miss seeing toads!

[ConcernedCanuk]

20. Saw flicker again today

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Hardly explored my property yet - 28 acres, mostly bush - and bugs galore right now.

In the spring, before the bugs - took a wander up an existing trail to the back of my property.

Discovered two streams! - one with small ponds I intend to enlarge (think swimming holes) in the late summer, early fall when the bugs are not so ferocious.

Streams are about a quarter mile from the house and other buildings - so I expect there will be much more wildlife up there.

I used to go camping with my 4x4 to rivers and lakes nearby - now I will be able to do it on my own property! Large clearing exists by one of the ponds - intend to haul up one of my travel trailers and make a "camp" up there.

I have a plan . . .



CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. Blue Jays!

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went out for I call a "wander" - refilled the feeders and I have half a dozen Blue Jays now cleaning them out

I've seen plenty of Blue Jays at my previous dwelling, but never saw them fight before.

Although there are 4 feeders out there - they will fight over the same one, ignoring the others.

Maybe they are not fighting, possibly they are trying to impress potential mates?



CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. Baby partridges in my back yard!

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All my decades in the bush - never seen a baby partridge.

Wandered out (I do that a lot) - just to enjoy momma nature.

Standing in the doorway of my shop - I saw a large partridge wander by, about 20 feet away.

I thought WOW - dinner! - then I noticed tiny birds, about the size of a sparrow following it in the grass.

Damm - I can't shoot no wee babies momma -

Guess I got "tenants" - groundhog living under my deck, porcupine chewing on my walls at night, Black bear wandering down my driveway, Racoon tryna rob my my bird feeders, Now a momma partridge and her whole family . . .

And they ain't payin' no RENT! - who to sue?

Furgot - I got no tv service here.

They are my best entertainment.

Luv my critters really.

And my home.

luvin' it.

CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. Wabbit today!

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Saw bunny hoppin' across my driveway to my front yard which is covered in clover.

I expect to see more - ya know what they say about wabbits and their habits. . .



CC

[life long demo]

21. Love hearing about your critters

and your home. Good luck with it. BTW I use to have a groundhog in my back yard, then there were baby groundhogs. I tell you, they are the cutest little things. They finally all left, moved on to greener grass probably. Then I had to fill in the holes, but so what, I enjoyed watching them.

[ConcernedCanuk]

24. See Groundhog every day now

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sometimes 3 or more times in a single day - both in my front and back yards.

doesn't run away when I talk to it, just if I get too close.

I got a maintenance free pet!



CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

22. HONEYBEES! - Hundreds and hundreds of them.

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I take numerous "wanders" outside - walked part of the 2 acres I keep mowed down;

walking around the outside perimeter, noticed an unfamiliar sound - honeybees!

Most parts of the perimeter is just full of wild-flowers, daisies, something that looks like a very tall Iris (orange), and some flower that looks like a buttercup (yeah, got them too) but on a closer inspection they have tiny yellow petals at the top.

I got purple and red too - as well as all the surrounding green - and some really fine stems/leaves on a totally green plant here and there that "wispy" is the only way I can describe it.

Birds were the big entertainment at my last dwelling, so had 3 different books to identify them.

Time to get me books to identify these plants I'm enjoying.

I'll do a google and find books online for Wildflowers of Northern Ontario.

And just order online!

It's gonna happen.



CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

23. Snakes now! - just small garter snakes

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Nope - snakes don't freak me out.

Garters are not poisonous, and shy as heck.

They can bite though if you grab them - yep - did that once - grabbed one

But only the once! - So now I just watch them quickly slither away.

And they are pretty! - But never hang around for a photo-op.

I'll work on that.

CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

25. Humming bird today!

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Sitting outside on my back porch

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Humming bird came to feed on the wildflowers beside my porch.

Luv Momma Nature!

CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

31. Saw my hummingbird again today, haven't seen it much lately.

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Still got the bees right outside my door though.

Haven't seen gopher for weeks - was feeding constantly for over a month, then disappeared.

I'm thinking it was a momma - and now nursing -

Maybe see some wee gophers shortly.

Hope so!



CC

[applegrove]

26. The green looks so lush. You are lucky with your new abode.

[ConcernedCanuk]

27. Fox today! - right in my front yard.

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I was wandering around the yard, which I do numerous times a day -

didn't bother to put on my glasses - I'm nearsighted -

about 30 feet away I spotted what I thought was gopher.

Looked about the same size -

We looked at each other for about ten seconds - I thought it was a large cat, I knew it wasn't gopher . .

so I said "who are you?

little guy turned and loped back into the bush - and then I see a typical fox's tail.

Smallest fox I ever seen by a long shot - I figure momma and poppa are nearby.

Cool!

CC

[mainer]

28. Wait till you start a vegetable garden.

Your opinion on your cute critter may change.

[ConcernedCanuk]

29. I already have a plan if that becomes a problem.

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First off a greenhouse or two - fences for the large critters like deer

and if gopher is still a problem then I'll get a live trap and move him/her to nice neighborhood far away..

I'll deal with that when the time comes.

Not a concern at this point.

CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

30. Dragonflies!

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NOW that most of the bugs are gone, I gots dozens of dozens of dragonflies buzzing around my yards

some buzzing around my head - but I like that

They are eating the bugs that wanna eat me!

And some a real purty,

especially when the sun hits their wings at a certain angle.

I be happy here.



CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

32. Baby Robins! - over a dozen in my front yard

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Saw Big momma Robins around quite a bit for months.

Today saw over a dozen young uns outside my living room window, some barely able to fly a few feet;

actually, I'm still watching them - momma nature beats TV anytime!



CC

[CaliforniaPeggy]

33. I'm reading all your posts, and they're wonderful, my dear ConcernedCanuk...

You have an incredible amount of wildlife. I love reading your descriptions of them...

And I look forward to your getting a good camera so you can show us what you're seeing!

I'm glad you're luvvin' your new home!

[ConcernedCanuk]

34. ty peggy - just went out for a "wander" I call it about half an hour ago.

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only thing I heard was crickets, and bees feeding on my wildflowers by the back porch.

Rest assured, pictures will be forthcoming.

got a new cell phone with a better camera,

just haven't figured out how it works yet,

but I will.



CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

35. Haven't seen my gopher for 2 weeks or more now

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Used to see gopher many times each day, munching on the clover in my yards.

Hope the fox didn't get gopher.



CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

36. Garter snakes!

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See them every day now - have to watch so I do not step on them.

I walk around my acreage barefoot, watch the ground carefully,

not for fear of snakes, but glass and other human crap.

Garters are not dangerous, but they will bite if you hurt them.

Bites are akin to a pin prick - actually at least here,

if you pick them up gently, they won't even try.

I got friends that are terrified of them -

and they are wearing boots!

here's a pic of this "dangerous" guy





Momma nature just keeps on entertaining me!

And treating me to her treasures.

Thanks Momma Nature.

CC

[CaliforniaPeggy]

37. My dear ConcernedCanuk...

You're a brave soul, picking them up...

I know, I know.....they're not dangerous.



Snakes bother me, always have.

Your pictures are good!

[ConcernedCanuk]

38. They are not really my pictures - snagged them off the net.

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But the pics I snagged look exactly like what I have slithering around my yards here.

One of my friends practically freaked when I bent over (barefoot) and picked up the garter.

Nothing to do with "brave" - I know they are harmless.

Now if it it was a rattler . . . . .

that wouldn't be brave,

that'd be plain 'tupid!



CC

[ConcernedCanuk]

39. Bee meets grasshopper

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This is in one of the yards by my house a few days ago.

Luv momma nature.



CC